Media framing of spiders may exacerbate arachnophobic sentiments

1. Spiders are able to arouse strong emotional reactions in humans. While spider bites are statistically rare events, our perception is skewed towards the potential harm spiders can cause to humans. Nevertheless, there is still limited understanding of the role of the media in spreading (mis)information about them thereby promoting this distorted perception of risk. 2. We examined the human dimension of spiders through the lens of traditional media, by analysing spider-related news published online in Italian newspapers between 2010 and 2020 (n = 314). We assessed the accuracy, circulation and sensationalistic content of each article, and assessed how each of these features drove news' share on social media. 3. We observed a recent, exponential increase in the frequency of the news, particularly those focused on medically important spiders-the Mediterranean black widow Latrodectus tredecimguttatus and the Mediterranean recluse Loxosceles rufescens. The news quality was generally poor: 70% contained different types of error, 32% were sensationalistic, and in virtually none was an expert consulted. 4. The risk scenario depicted by the media reports was unnecessarily alarmist, especially with regard to L. rufescens. A conservative estimate would suggest that less than 10% of the bites reported in the media reports analysed here were delivered by the species described in the report. Moreover, two out of three casualties associated with a bite of the Mediterranean recluse were fake news, while the third was unverifiable. 5. Overstated news referring to spider bites was shared significantly more on social media, thus contributing to frame a distorted perception of the risk. This is important given that these negative sentiments may ultimately lead to lowering public tolerance towards spiders and reducing conservation efforts towards them. We discuss open questions and avenues for future research concerning the media coverage of widely feared animals, that will help bridge knowledge gaps regarding the role of traditional and social media in framing our perception of the natural world.Peer reviewe

Il Badalone di Filippo Brunelleschi e l’iconografia del «navigium» tra Guido da Vigevano e Leonardo da Vinci. In appendice: Il privilegio del Badalone (trascrizione e note storico-archivistiche)

Nel giugno 1421 le autorità di Firenze concessero a Filippo Brunelleschi un privilegium per sfruttare i diritti di uso di un nuovo tipo di imbarcazione che il grande architetto aveva inventato, il badalone. Varie ipotesi sono state fatte riguardo le caratteristiche di questo naviglio, ma determinare con esattezza cosa sia stato il badalone non è facile, a causa della mancanza di documentazione eloquentemente descrittiva. Qui si avanzano alcune congetture intorno al suo uso e caratteristiche. Da una parte una rilettura degli archivi dell’Opera del Duomo di Firenze, particolarmente dei documenti relazionabili all’impresa del Brunelleschi e alla navigazione dell’Arno nelle diverse stagioni dell’anno; e, dall’altra parte, un’indagine sulla tradizione iconografica della navigazione dal Medio Evo al primo Rinascimento, ci consentono di identificare meglio i problemi a cui l’invenzione brunelleschiana intendeva rispondere, suggerendo altre ipotesi sull’identità del badalone

Use of Thermography Techniques in Equines: Principles and Applications

none7noThis review of the use of thermographic technique in equines introduces the principles upon which infrared radiation and thermoregulatory physiology are based and describes the instrumentation used and its practical use. The advantage of this imaging technique is that it is a noninvasive thermographic examination, both from an operational (the animal and the operator) and health (no penetrating radiation is used) standpoint. Advantages and disadvantages of this technique, equine applications, and physiological assessments are discussed.openVeronica, Redaelli; Domenico, Bergero; Enrica, Zucca; Francesco, Ferrucci; Leonardo Nanni Costa, ; Lorenzo, Crosta; Fabio, LuziVeronica, Redaelli; Domenico, Bergero; Enrica, Zucca; Francesco, Ferrucci; Leonardo Nanni Costa, ; Lorenzo, Crosta; Fabio, Luz

Social Media and Large Carnivores : Sharing Biased News on Attacks on Humans

The Internet and social media have profoundly changed the way the public receives and transmits news. The ability of the web to quickly disperse information both geographically and temporally allows social media to reach a much wider audience compared to traditional mass media. A powerful role is played by sharing, as millions of people routinely share news on social media platforms, influencing each other by transmitting their mood and feelings to others through emotional contagion. Thus, social media has become crucial in driving public perception and opinion. Humans have an instinctive fear of large carnivores, but such a negative attitude may be amplified by news media presentations and their diffusion on social media. Here, we investigated how reports of predator attacks on humans published in online newspapers spread on social media. By means of multi-model inference, we explored the contribution of four factors in driving the number of total shares (NTS) of news reports on social media: the graphic/sensationalistic content, the presence of images, the species, as well as the newspaper coverage. According to our results, the information delivered by social media is highly biased toward a graphic/sensationalistic view of predators. Thus, such negative coverage might lead to an unjustified and amplified fear in the public with consequent lower tolerance toward predators and decrease in the support for conservation plans. However, because social media represents a powerful communication tool, its role might be reversed to positive if used appropriately. Thus, constant engagement of scientists on social media would be needed to both disseminate more accurate information on large carnivores and stem the tide of misinformation before its widespread diffusion, a crucial step for effective predator conservation.Peer reviewe

Changes in high-intensity precipitation on the northern Apennines (Italy) as revealed by multidisciplinary data over the last 9000 years

Several record-breaking precipitation events have struck the mountainous area of the Emilia-Romagna region (northern Apennines, Italy) over the last 10 years. As a consequence, severe geomorphological processes such as debris avalanches and debris flows, shallow landslides, and over-bank flooding have affected the territory, causing severe damage to human-made structures. The unusual intensity of these phenomena prompted an investigation into their frequency in the past, beyond instrumental time. In the quest for an understanding of whether these phenomena are unprecedented in the region, peat bog and lake deposits were analyzed to infer the frequency of extreme precipitation events that may have occurred in the past. We present the results of a dedicated field campaign performed in summer 2017 at Lake Moo in the northern Apennines, a 0.15 km(2) peat bog located at an altitude of 1130 m a.s.l. During the extreme precipitation event of 13-14 September 2015, several debris flows generated by small streams affected the Lake Moo plain. In such a small drainage basin (<2 km(2)), high-density floods can be triggered only by high-intensity precipitation events. The sedimentary succession (ca. 13 m thick) was studied through the drilling of two cores and one trench. The sequence, characterized by clusters of coarse-grained alluvial deposits interbedded with organic-rich silty clays and peat layers, was analyzed by combining sedimentological, pollen, microanthracological and pedological data with radiocarbon dating (AMS C-14) in an innovative multidisciplinary approach for this area. Original data acquired during the field campaign were also correlated with other specific paleoclimatic proxies available in the literature for the northern Apennines area. We discover that the increase in extreme paleoflooding, associated with coarse-grained deposits similar to the ones observed recently, correlates well with the warm phases of the Holocene Thermal Maximum and with the ongoing warming trend observed that started at the beginning of the last century

Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 Receptor (IGF-1R) expression on Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) and metastatic breast cancer outcome: results from the TransMYME trial

Purpose To evaluate the prognostic value of IGF-1R expression on circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in a prospective randomized clinical trial comparing chemotherapy plus metformin with chemotherapy alone in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. Methods CTCs were collected at baseline and at the end of chemotherapy. An automated sample preparation and analysis system (CellSearch) were customized for detecting IGF-1R expression. The prognostic role of CTC count and IGF-1R was assessed for PFS and OS by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Seventy-two out of 126 randomized patients were evaluated: 57% had >= 1 IGF-1R positive CTC and 37.5% >= 4 IGF-1R negative cells; 42% had CTC count >= 5/7.5 ml. At univariate analysis, the number of IGF-1R negative CTCs was strongly associated with risk of progression and death: HR 1.93 (P = 0.013) and 3.65 (P = 0.001), respectively; no association was detected between number of IGF-1R positive CTCs and PFS or OS (P = 0.322 and P = 0.840). The prognostic role of CTC count was confirmed: HR 1.69, P = 0.042 for PFS and HR 2.80 for OS, P = 0.002. By multivariate analysis, the prognostic role of the number of IGF-1R negative CTCs was maintained, while no residual prognostic role of CTC count or number of IGF-1R positive cells was found. Conclusion Loss of IGF-1R in CTCs is associated with a significantly worse outcome in MBC patients. This finding supports further evaluation for the role of IGF-1R on CTCs to improve patient stratification and to implement new targeted strategies. Clinical trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01885013); European Clinical Trials Database (EudraCT No.2009-014,662-26)

Evolution of HER2-positive mammary carcinoma: HER2 loss reveals claudin-low traits in cancer progression

HER2-positive breast cancers may lose HER2 expression in recurrences and metastases. In this work, we studied cell lines derived from two transgenic mammary tumors driven by human HER2 that showed different dynamics of HER2 status. MamBo89HER2stable cell line displayed high and stable HER2 expression, which was maintained upon in vivo passages, whereas MamBo43HER2labile cell line gave rise to HER2-negative tumors from which MamBo38HER2loss cell line was derived. Both low-density seeding and in vitro trastuzumab treatment of MamBo43HER2labile cells induced the loss of HER2 expression. MamBo38HER2loss cells showed a spindle-like morphology, high stemness and acquired in vivo malignancy. A comprehensive molecular profile confirmed the loss of addiction to HER2 signaling and acquisition of an EMT signature, together with increased angiogenesis and migration ability. We identified PDGFR-B among the newly expressed determinants of MamBo38HER2loss cell tumorigenic ability. Sunitinib inhibited MamBo38HER2loss tumor growth in vivo and reduced stemness and IL6 production in vitro. In conclusion, HER2-positive mammary tumors can evolve into tumors that display distinctive traits of claudin-low tumors. Our dynamic model of HER2 status can lead to the identification of new druggable targets, such as PDGFR-B, in order to counteract the resistance to HER2-targeted therapy that is caused by HER2 loss

Bone sarcoma patient-derived xenografts are faithful and stable preclinical models for molecular and therapeutic investigations

Standard therapy of osteosarcoma (OS) and Ewing sarcoma (EW) rests on cytotoxic regimes, which are largely unsuccessful in advanced patients. Preclinical models are needed to break this impasse. A panel of patient-derived xenografts (PDX) was established by implantation of fresh, surgically resected osteosarcoma (OS) and Ewing sarcoma (EW) in NSG mice. Engraftment was obtained in 22 of 61 OS (36%) and 7 of 29 EW (24%). The success rate in establishing primary cell cultures from OS was lower than the percentage of PDX engraftment in mice, whereas the reverse was observed for EW; the implementation of both in vivo and in vitro seeding increased the proportion of patients yielding at least one workable model. The establishment of in vitro cultures from PDX was highly efficient in both tumor types, reaching 100% for EW. Morphological and immunohistochemical (SATB2, P-glycoprotein 1, CD99, caveolin 1) studies and gene expression profiling showed a remarkable similarity between patient's tumor and PDX, which was maintained over several passages in mice, whereas cell cultures displayed a lower correlation with human samples. Genes differentially expressed between OS original tumor and PDX mostly belonged to leuykocyte-specific pathways, as human infiltrate is gradually replaced by murine leukocytes during growth in mice. In EW, which contained scant infiltrates, no gene was differentially expressed between the original tumor and the PDX. A novel therapeutic combination of anti-CD99 diabody C7 and irinotecan was tested against two EW PDX; both drugs inhibited PDX growth, the addition of anti-CD99 was beneficial when chemotherapy alone was less effective. The panel of OS and EW PDX faithfully mirrored morphologic and genetic features of bone sarcomas, representing reliable models to test therapeutic approaches

HER2 isoforms co-expression differently tunes mammary tumor phenotypes affecting onset, vasculature and therapeutic response

Full-length HER2 oncoprotein and splice variant Delta16 are co-expressed in human breast cancer. We studied their interaction in hybrid transgenic mice bearing human full-length HER2 and Delta16 (F1 HER2/Delta16) in comparison to parental HER2 and Delta16 transgenic mice. Mammary carcinomas onset was faster in F1 HER2/Delta16 and Delta16 than in HER2 mice, however tumor growth was slower, and metastatic spread was comparable in all transgenic mice. Full-length HER2 tumors contained few large vessels or vascular lacunae, whereas Delta16 tumors presented a more regular vascularization with numerous endothelium-lined small vessels. Delta16-expressing tumors showed a higher accumulation of i.v. injected doxorubicin than tumors expressing full-length HER2. F1 HER2/Delta16 tumors with high full-length HER2 expression made few large vessels, whereas tumors with low full-length HER2 and high Delta16 contained numerous small vessels and expressed higher levels of VEGF and VEGFR2. Trastuzumab strongly inhibited tumor onset in F1 HER2/Delta16 and Delta16 mice, but not in full-length HER2 mice. Addiction of F1 tumors to Delta16 was also shown by long-term stability of Delta16 levels during serial transplants, in contrast full-length HER2 levels underwent wide fluctuations. In conclusion, full-length HER2 leads to a faster tumor growth and to an irregular vascularization, whereas Delta16 leads to a faster tumor onset, with more regular vessels, which in turn could better transport cytotoxic drugs within the tumor, and to a higher sensitivity to targeted therapeutic agents. F1 HER2/Delta16 mice are a new immunocompetent mouse model, complementary to patient-derived xenografts, for studies of mammary carcinoma onset, prevention and therapy

HER2 cancer vaccine optimization by combining Drosophila S2 insect cell manufacturing with a novel VLP-display technology

Breast cancer is a widespread oncology indication affecting more than 1.3 million people worldwide annually, 20%-30% of which are HER2 positive. HER2 is a tyrosine kinase receptor that is frequently overexpressed in several solid-tumor cancers (incl. breast, prostate, gastric, esophageal and osteosarcoma) where it denotes an aggressive phenotype, high metastatic rate, and poor prognosis. In a human context, passive HER2-targeted immunotherapy using monoclonal antibodies (mAb, e.g. Trastuzumab and Pertuzumab) has proven to be an effective treatment modality, which has dramatically improved clinical outcomes. Unfortunately, mAb therapy is very expensive and the repeated injections of high doses can be associated with severe side-effects that reduce efficacy. Vaccines are highly cost-effective, but overall progress in development of anti-cancer vaccines based on cancer-associated antigens (e.g. HER2) has been hampered by inherent immune-tolerogenic mechanisms rendering the immune system incapable of reacting against the body’s own cells/proteins (i.e. self-antigens). Consequently, many attempts to develop anti-cancer vaccines have failed in clinical trials due to insufficient immunogenicity. To circumvent this central issue, we have developed a proprietary virus-like particle (VLP)-based vaccine delivery platform. Notably, the VLP-platform is currently the only available technology to effectively facilitate multivalent “virus-like” display of large/complex vaccine antigens. This is key to overcome immune-tolerance and enable induction of therapeutically potent antibody responses directed against cancer-associated self-antigens. In this talk I will discuss the non-viral Drosophila S2 insect cell production system and how it was applied to the production of hHer2/neu antigen, including using advanced production methods such as perfusion for clinical material manufacture. Furthermore, I will present our data from a transgenic mouse model for spontaneous breast cancer development, where high-density display of the HER2 extracellular domain on the surface of virus-like particles (VLPs) enables induction of therapeutically potent anti-HER2 responses. Split-protein tag/catcher conjugation was used to facilitate directional covalent attachment of HER2 to the surface of icosahedral bacteriophage-derived VLPs, thereby harnessing the VLP platform to effectively overcome B-cell tolerance. Vaccine efficacy was demonstrated both in prevention and therapy of mammary carcinomas in HER2 transgenic mice. Thus, the HER2-VLP vaccine shows promise as a new strategy for treatment of HER2-positive cancer. The modular VLP system may also represent an effective tool for development of self-antigen based vaccines against other non-communicable diseases